Mike F Shaw has been at 4 events

This is the Event for our October Self Portrait Challenge: Your Greatest Fear. We figured we'd go beyond just a general "Halloween" theme, but still keep the "fright factor" alive. So show us something that absolutely terrifies you!
Here is where you enter your ONE Self Portrait with a "Greatest Fear" theme. Your photo must have been captured during this month. This Event remains open until 11:59 CST October 31st, so you have until then to create and enter your best photo from this month. (The dates on the Event are truncated, but you can submit a photo anytime, all month long.) Please read all rules (scroll down). Not adhering to rules will get you disqualified.
*Inspiration*
Moderators of the Art of Self Portraiture Community are not eligible to win, but we'll be putting our photos into the Event in the hopes that you'll be inspired. If you have questions or need help, please pop into the Community http://goo.gl/M7XTQ and ask away! We have categories for questions and discussion and are happy to help with anything.
*Prizes*
@100266938567862344330 Blue City Walker 20 http://goo.gl/LbDMIy
$150 Gift Certificate for @108289626026839048870 http://www.borrowlenses.com
@100424993750772730018 1 Year Awesome Account
@101789561086090624750 Discontinued Strap http://www.capturingcouture.com/collections/the-sale-rack
1 Year of @118357019708110162087 Basic http://www.smugmug.com/photos/photo-sharing-features
Please circle these sponsors - we love their products and services and it's great that they support our learning and growing together. Having them circled is a requirement to be a winner. :)
There will be 5 winners. 1st place winner selects choice of 5 prizes. 2nd place selects choice of 4 remaining prizes. 3rd place selects choice of remaining 3 prizes. 4th place selects choice of remaining 2 prizes. 5th place receives the remaining prize. Winners must respond within 24 hours of being contacted or new winners will be chosen.
At the end of the month, the Owners and Moderators of The Art of Self Portraiture Community will vote on the submissions and choose 1st, 2nd, & 3rd, 4th, & 5th place winners. Please note that this is subjective (art always is!) and so we'll be basing our votes purely on our own opinions. Everyone who enters a photo is already a winner, of course. :)
*Please Remember These Rules:*
*Enter Only Your Own Work
*Enter Only ONE Photo
*Only SELF PORTRAITS
*Must adhere to this month's theme.
*Photo Must Be Taken in October 2014 (EXIF data must reflect this)
*Can Only Win Once Every 6 Months
*Winners Must Respond Within 24 Hours of Contact
*Circle Our Prize Sponsors
*No Trickery or Spamming
*We Reserve The Right To Remove Entries/Participants for Misconduct
*Anything Outside Guidelines/Rules Disqualifies A Participant﻿

This is the Event for our January Self Portrait Challenge: New Beginnings! What is meant by this? It's up to you to interpret. I know that many of us think about what we want the next year to be like (even if you don't make resolutions) and this seems like a great way to express what's been on our minds in that sense. You can interpret this way, or any other way that makes sense to you. We're looking forward to what your creative minds will come up with!
Here is where you enter your ONE Self Portrait with a "New Beginnings" theme. Your photo must have been captured any time during this month. This Event remains open until 11:59 CST January 31st, so you have until then to create and enter your best photo from this month. You have about two weeks left to complete this task if you don't already have a qualifying photo that you took this month - you can do it! Please read all rules (scroll down). Not adhering to rules will get you disqualified.
*Inspiration*
Moderators of the Art of Self Portraiture Community are not eligible to win, but we'll be putting our photos into the Event in the hopes that you'll be inspired. If you have questions or need help, please pop into the Community http://goo.gl/M7XTQ and ask away! We have categories for questions and discussion and are happy to help with anything.
*Prizes*
$150 Gift Certificate for @108289626026839048870 http://www.borrowlenses.com
1 Year Awesome Account at @100424993750772730018 http://goo.gl/CCrBlS
@100266938567862344330 Mirrorless Mover 10 Bag http://goo.gl/Z4h0IN
Please circle these sponsors - they make these prizes possible, so having them circled is a requirement to be a winner.
There will be 3 winners. 1st place winner selects choice of 3 prizes. 2nd place selects choice of 2 remaining prizes. 3rd place receives the remaining prize. Winners must respond within 24 hours of being contacted or new winners will be chosen.
At the end of the month, the Owners and Moderators of The Art of Self Portraiture Community will vote on the submissions and choose 1st, 2nd, & 3rd place winners. Please note that this is subjective (art always is!) and so we'll be basing our votes purely on our own opinions. Everyone who enters a photo is already a winner, of course. :)
Please Remember These Rules:
*Enter Only Your Own Work
*Enter Only ONE Photo
*Only SELF PORTRAITS
*Must adhere to this month's theme.
*Photo Must Be Taken in January 2014
*Can Only Win Once Every 6 Months
*Winners Must Respond Within 24 Hours of Contact
*Circle Our Prize Sponsors
*No Trickery or Spamming
*We Reserve The Right To Remove Entries for Misconduct
*Anything Outside Guidelines/Rules Disqualifies A Participant﻿

This is the Event for our September 2013 Self Portrait Challenge: A Great Cell Phone Photo. Just because you use a cell phone doesn't mean your self portrait has to be of the "facebook style" mobile or reflection variety. That little guy has a camera inside it, so treat it like one!
Here is where you enter your ONE Self Portrait using only a cell phone to capture and process (no computer software post processing!). Your photo must have been captured this month. This Event remains open until 11:59 CST September 30th, so you have until then to create and enter your best photo from this month. Please read all rules (scroll down). Not adhering to rules will get you disqualified.
*Tutorial & Tips*
Need some tips and inspiration for this challenge? Have no fear! That's why we're here. :) The amazing @110573952887886961621 made a tutorial about shooting cell phone photos to get you inspired - see it here: http://goo.gl/z3IZ23 He also posted a video of his process - see it here: http://goo.gl/vzcRHL
*Remember these Do's and Don'ts to get the best photo:*
*DO take the time to set up your shot thoughtfully.
*DO invest time and effort and try more than once to get it right.
*DO make sure your lens is clean.
*DO take your photo in adequate light so it's not grainy, blurry, or dark.
*DO put the cell phone down and use a timer - stop taking all your photos by holding the phone and pointing at yourself or a mirror.
*DO try different angles for the best composition.
*DO read the posts in our Tutorials Category and try the concepts and ideas you learn from them: http://goo.gl/uSUULE
*DO try different apps and see what works best for you.
*DO be aware of your background! It makes a huge difference! Is there junk in the room behind you? If yes, it's not a good place to shoot. ETC.
*DO NOT just slap a filter or cheesy effect on and call it a day - take the time to try different edits and pay attention to the elements of your photo.
*DO NOT point your phone at a mirror and take a reflection photo where we can see your phone.
*DO NOT have your arms in the photo as you're holding the phone out in front of or above you.
*DO NOT duckface.
*DO NOT showcase your cleavage as the main subject.
*Here's a list of Photo Apps you can try out:*
Snapseed
VSCOcam
Retouch (cloning tool!)
Camera+
Camera!
PhotoStudio﻿
Pixlr Express
Aviary﻿
InsPhoto
*Prizes*
1 Year of @118357019708110162087 Basic http://www.smugmug.com/photos/photo-sharing-features
@101789561086090624750 Discontinued Camera Strap - you choose from a variety available. :) http://www.capturingcouture.com
Please circle these sponsors - they make these prizes possible, so having them circled is a requirement to be a winner.
There will be 2 winners. 1st place winner selects choice of prizes. 2nd place receives remaining prize. Winners must respond within 24 hours of being contacted or new winners will be chosen.
At the end of the month, the Owners and Moderators of The Art of Self Portraiture Community will v

A special all-Europe show! We switched around the time of the show for this special event! Joining today are @102518365620075109973, @110258598415939907971, @112661262066626464523, @105390077271236874234, +Serge Ramelli. Thank you to +Dave Veffer for setting everything up!
You can watch live here, or you can ask questions live over at http://www.StuckInCustoms.com -- see you soon!

Trey's Variety Hour #59- All European Show - Special Euro Time! (8 PM London Time, not that the UK uses the Euro or anything...)

Die meisten +1: 248

Let me show you what I seeLet me put your hand upon my heartSo you can feel it beatLet me expose my soulSo you will know of my spiritWalk in my footstepsSo you will be on my pathThis journey I takeIs through visions of beingIs down roads of lifeTake a journey with meSo I can show you another way.﻿

Something we consider to be a human trait, time out to just think. I have seen the faces of primates that seem to do the same thing, to sit and just think, we consider this not possible but our own minds and how they work is still a mystery to ourselves. How do we know they and other creatures are not capable of deep thought?

Until proven otherwise I will always believe primates are capable of more than we understand.﻿

Time Out To Ponder The Universe.

Something we consider to be a human trait, time out to just think. I have seen the faces of primates that seem to do the same thing, to sit and just think, we consider this not possible but our own minds and how they work is still a mystery to ourselves. How do we know they and other creatures are not capable of deep thought?

Until proven otherwise I will always believe primates are capable of more than we understand.﻿___

This was an experiment, shoot with the Canon 70-200mm f/2.8L MKII on the Canon 5D MKIII. I know you can use this to shoot landscapes but not normally with an aperture of f/2.8 which is very wide. It gave the effect of a tilt shift image.

I kinda like it.﻿

Lilliput Autumn.

This was an experiment, shoot with the Canon 70-200mm f/2.8L MKII on the Canon 5D MKIII. I know you can use this to shoot landscapes but not normally with an aperture of f/2.8 which is very wide. It gave the effect of a tilt shift image.

While you can, the trees are starting to look bare, the ground is turning those that have dropped to mulch to nourish new growth. Soon the hoar frost will come, the ground will become hard and the landscape will turn white. You have little time to see the hues of gold, reds and deep browns. Don't leave it to later, do it now, go and enjoy the display nature puts on for you while its till there.﻿

Go Now!

While you can, the trees are starting to look bare, the ground is turning those that have dropped to mulch to nourish new growth. Soon the hoar frost will come, the ground will become hard and the landscape will turn white. You have little time to see the hues of gold, reds and deep browns. Don't leave it to later, do it now, go and enjoy the display nature puts on for you while its till there.﻿___

Sometimes you just get lucky, I thought this morning would be a bit of a bust in regards to the sunrise. I fell lucky in only that the chem trails from the airplanes overnight left a pattern in the sky.﻿

Cobwebs Of The Sunrise.

Sometimes you just get lucky, I thought this morning would be a bit of a bust in regards to the sunrise. I fell lucky in only that the chem trails from the airplanes overnight left a pattern in the sky.﻿___

Let me show you what I seeLet me put your hand upon my heartSo you can feel it beatLet me expose my soulSo you will know of my spiritWalk in my footstepsSo you will be on my pathThis journey I takeIs through visions of beingIs down roads of lifeTake a journey with meSo I can show you another way.﻿

Take A Journey With Me

Let me show you what I seeLet me put your hand upon my heartSo you can feel it beatLet me expose my soulSo you will know of my spiritWalk in my footstepsSo you will be on my pathThis journey I takeIs through visions of beingIs down roads of lifeTake a journey with meSo I can show you another way.﻿___

I don't think there is anything better than being out in the woods in a crisp autumnal morning. On days such as these you meet very few people and the ones you do are wrapped up warm in gloves and scarfs.

You realise just how wonderful our planet really is.﻿

Walking In The Autumnal Mist.

I don't think there is anything better than being out in the woods in a crisp autumnal morning. On days such as these you meet very few people and the ones you do are wrapped up warm in gloves and scarfs.

Recently I have found the love of photography after going through quiet a barren time. It has been like putting flesh back on sun bleached bones. When you lose your passion for creativity you also lose part of yourself, you become stripped down to the bone, for me it was as if I had become vacant inside.

Once you manage to get the passion back you realise what you have been missing and the passion for your creativity becomes matched by your passion to hold on to it.﻿

Putting Flesh On Bones.

Recently I have found the love of photography after going through quiet a barren time. It has been like putting flesh back on sun bleached bones. When you lose your passion for creativity you also lose part of yourself, you become stripped down to the bone, for me it was as if I had become vacant inside.

Once you manage to get the passion back you realise what you have been missing and the passion for your creativity becomes matched by your passion to hold on to it.﻿___

From the storm I was bornBitter rain upon my skinLaid upon this earthAs clouds fought with day and nightSleep for many an age my comfortSoon to be my foeIn the tempest I now wakenIn the gale I now breatheFor the storm is meAnd I the stormDo not run from meFor I come no matter And I bring with me a lifeOnce lain to rest by the ancientsI am the darkI am the lightI am awakened.﻿

When You Waken.

From the storm I was bornBitter rain upon my skinLaid upon this earthAs clouds fought with day and nightSleep for many an age my comfortSoon to be my foeIn the tempest I now wakenIn the gale I now breatheFor the storm is meAnd I the stormDo not run from meFor I come no matter And I bring with me a lifeOnce lain to rest by the ancientsI am the darkI am the lightI am awakened.﻿___

Go to the great seas and stand at the shore and look out.Go to the mountains and stand at the base and look up.Go to a sunset and watch as a star falls below the horizon.

You will feel small compared to the cosmos that surrounds you but just as each atom that makes up you each one is important, it plays a part in your life, each atom was also born of the stars. You may feel small but even the tiniest things have an important part to play.

You are the cosmos.﻿

Your Place In The Cosmos.

Ever wondered what you place was?

Go to the great seas and stand at the shore and look out.Go to the mountains and stand at the base and look up.Go to a sunset and watch as a star falls below the horizon.

You will feel small compared to the cosmos that surrounds you but just as each atom that makes up you each one is important, it plays a part in your life, each atom was also born of the stars. You may feel small but even the tiniest things have an important part to play.

Something we see little of nowadays, people too busy with their heads looking down at a screen of some sort they forget to look up. If they did they would remember the joy of flying a kite on a beach as the sun starts to set.﻿

Lets Go Fly A Kite

Something we see little of nowadays, people too busy with their heads looking down at a screen of some sort they forget to look up. If they did they would remember the joy of flying a kite on a beach as the sun starts to set.﻿___